Hey first time poster long time reader lol got into RBA not to long ago and I build my coil's to around 1.5ohm's 32g 3mm silica on a vamo v2 3.7v 7.5w juicing 80/20 VG/PG it's not the wick that get black and gunky it's the coil it start's tasting nasty or hard to draw and turning the juice darker and when I notice one of them happening then I clean the coil and all better but I know that shouldn't be happening so what is it? A hot spot that I don't see? or what?
I think it might be the high VG I'll try 50/50.
First off "hot spots" are a problem with SS mesh... with silica, not so much.
I vape very high VG constantly (around 30/70 pg-vg) and yes, the coils get gunked up. This happens with thinner juice too. It's why there is even a market for
replacement factory made heads for attys like the vivi and the protank. Darker and sweeter juices have a habit of gunking up coils faster than the lighter ones too.
An RBA/RDA has the advantage of being VERY easy to clean. I usually give mine a rinse under a slow stream of very hot tap water (don't try to blast the gunk off with water pressure!) first... this helps displace any remaining juice in the wicks AND it helps melt some of that "gunk". If I've already got a glass of cheap vodka out to bath some of my other tanks and attys I might give the coil and wick a end a quick swish in the vodka too. Get some dry paper towels, etc. and gently dry the whole atty... try to squeeze some of the remaining water out of the wicks with paper towels, if you can, but above all try NOT to disturb/break the coil.
Screw it back onto to your Vamo (I usually set mine to VV mode and start at a low voltage), and "pulse fire" it by pressing the fire button for a few seconds, releasing for a second, press it again, etc. The goal is to gradually dry the wicks under the coil with coil heat. Half a dozen pulses or so you can hold the fire button down for an extra second or two... you should start to see the coils begin to glow now. Have a toothpick, paper clip, jeweler's screwdriver handy... Pay attention to how the coils start to glow when you pulse it. If any of the coils are touching each other (or the posts) this can create a sort of "hot spot". Use your tool to try and *gently* spread the coils apart from each other and to make sure they aren't touching the posts either.
When they are glowing more or less evenly I give them a few final long, hot pulses to "dry burn" the coil. The purpose of this is to basically bake any remaining gunk into ash where it can be more easily removed. Blow hard on the coil to remove the ash while it's glowing... Stubborn buildup may need a little coaxing with your screwdriver, paper clip, etc. You'll never get it perfectly clean but with a little work you should at least see the wires exposed from under all the gunk and the wicks should be much cleaner too.
Put juice back on it and vape away. I clean my very frequently used Smok RDA like this probably once a week. A clean coil makes a WORLD of difference!
